He acted like a mafia boss

Mohammad Shahid Islam alias Kazi Papul was part of an organised gang and he allegedly acted like a mafia boss who extorted money from the poor and low-income Bangladeshi migrant workers in Kuwait, reported the media there.

On Thursday, a court in Kuwait sentenced Papul, an independent lawmaker from Laxmipur-2, to four years in prison and fined him 1.97 million Kuwaiti dinars (around Tk 55 crore) in a bribery case.

“He was accused of acting like a mafia boss, demanding ‘taxes’ from the poor and low-income workers. Witnesses in the case offered evidence of the Bangladeshi MP’s grip on compatriot workers in Kuwait,” The Times, a local newspaper, reported on Thursday.

“The men of the accused imposed a ‘royalty’ on workers, at a value of KD8 dinars per day,” a witness said, according to the report.

In another development, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen last night told The Daily Star that his ministry was waiting for documents on the sentencing from the Kuwaiti authorities.

When asked whether the conviction and sentencing of a lawmaker abroad for such a crime was a disgrace to the nation, Momen said, “Yes, surely it is. It is very sad.”

Talking to this newspaper, Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah said the JS could not take action against any MP based on news published in the media.

“The speaker will dispose of the matter in line with the constitution and the rules of procedure of parliament after receiving documents and papers on the judgment,” he said.

“We will also have to look into whether the MP was awarded punishment on moral turpitude.”

Asked to explain moral turpitude, the deputy speaker said the CrPc and the evidence act clearly mentioned what moral turpitude was.

On June 6 last year, Kuwait’s Criminal Investigation Department arrested Papul, also the managing director and CEO of Marafie Kuwaitia Group.

He was accused of human trafficking, bribing Kuwaiti officials with millions of dollars to recruit Bangladeshi workers and get contracts for his company, money laundering, fraud related to employment of workers in his company, and violating the residence law.

The others sentenced on Thursday include Kuwait’s interior ministry’s Assistant Under-Secretary Maj Gen Mazen Al-Jarrah, and Nawaf Al-Mutairi, Hassan Al-Khader and Papul’s associate Mohammad Rashidul Islam, a Bangladeshi.

Quoting Arabic newspaper Al Qabas, The Times reported that Papul is estimated to have obtained KD5 million in assets in Kuwait. During investigations, all his bank accounts and that of his company were frozen.

According to sources in Kuwait, Papul went to Kuwait in 1989 as a worker and eventually started working as a recruitment broker and later established companies. He ran four companies involved in providing cleaners through government contracts in Kuwait, employing 9,000 workers.

According to witness accounts in the case against Papul, he was part of an “organised gang” made up of two Kuwaitis and Papul. They used a company to recruit workers from Bangladesh by fraudulent means in exchange for payments ranging between KD2,500 and KD2,700 for each, The Times reported.

The trio occupied sensitive positions in three major companies that brought over 20,000 Bangladeshi workers to Kuwait in exchange for more than KD50 million. Although the company was closed due to legal violations, the workers landed in Kuwait to discover their visas were fake. They were forcibly employed in another company owned by Papul.

Eleven Bangladeshis taken to Kuwait by Papul testified to the court about the exploitation. They were also charged money for renewing residency visas. They were forced to work against their will for long working hours in inhumane working conditions without wages or were provided with inadequate housing facilities.

“He [Papul] attacked those who objected [his views] and threatened them with false cases. Some workers in the two companies were witnesses to verifying the accusations. They added that they were brought in through a travel agency owned by the accused Muhammad Shahid Islam in Bangladesh,” The Times reported.

Some Bangladeshis, who worked as Kuwait correspondents for media outlets in Bangladesh, told The Daily Star that they faced unlawful deportation for reporting on misdeeds of Papul. Papul acted behind the deportation, they alleged.

The Times reported during investigations since June last year, evidence was uncovered that Papul extorted the workers, intentionally hid information and bribed some Kuwaiti officials to facilitate unlawful issuance of work visas.

Initially, Papul denied all the charges against him and his links to the criminal activities, but a search by the Kuwaiti authorities of his residence and companies produced documents revealing his crimes. He then admitted to offering gifts and assisting his friends in “several agencies” who in turn helped Papul complete the company’s transactions, according to the report.

During interrogation, Papul reportedly confessed to have provided KD1.1 million by cheque to an official at the Ministry of Interior, one million dinars in cash to another official, in addition to “bags” of millions of dinars in cash to a third official, Kuwaiti media reported.

The Times reported prosecutors heard testimonies from scores of Bangladeshi workers who had been brought into Kuwait by the accused, from Bangladesh, for money. This trading in work visas allowed him to siphon off money to the United States for laundering.

Papul transferred suspicious amounts to the tune of millions of dinars to European and Gulf banks in the days leading to the investigation, as he was preparing to leave Kuwait, after he had learned that his name had appeared in investigations in visa trading, human trafficking and money laundering, the report added.

JS TO ACT AFTER BEING INFORMED FORMALLY

Action regarding Papul will be taken by parliament after the relevant authorities in Kuwait formally informed the JS Speaker about the matter, said officials of the Parliament Secretariat.

Against this backdrop, questions have arisen as to who is the respective authority, how long it will take to inform the matter to the Speaker and how long the MP will be paid in monthly salaries and other benefits from the government exchequer.

According to the accounts section of parliament, an MP now gets over Tk 1,73,000 per month in pay and perks, meaning Papul received more than Tk 14 lakh since his arrest in Kuwait.

Speaking on the issue, Transparency International Bangladesh Executive Director  Dr Iftekharuzzaman told The Daily Star that if the government or the Jatiya Sangsad avoids taking prompt actions, it will only add to the embarrassment caused to the nation by the MP’s sentencing.

“Initiatives should be taken immediately to contact the relevant authorities in Kuwait to collect relevant official papers so as to take action against the MP, including cancelling his membership of parliament, as per the constitutional provisions,” he said.

“Moreover, the Kuwaiti action should be treated as only the first step in this episode. He and his associates should be brought to justice under the Bangladeshi laws, under which both money laundering and human trafficking are serious crimes,” he also said.

Iftekharuzzaman also said any government inaction at this stage would be a message that there are elements within the government and parliament who are determined to sabotage the prime minister’s zero tolerance pledge against corruption.

Senior Secretary of the Parliament Secretariat Zafar Ahmed Khan said they were yet to officially know about the sentencing of the MP.

“We came to know about the matter from the media. After getting necessary documents on this issue through the official channel, the Speaker will take necessary measures in this regard in line with the law and the constitution,” he said.

Asked, he said the Jatiya Sangsad is to get the documents from the foreign ministry.

According to Article 66 of the constitution, there are several provisions under which an MP shall be disqualified for being a member of parliament.

One of the provisions says, “A person shall be disqualified for election as, or for being, a member of parliament who has been, on conviction for a criminal offence involving moral turpitude, sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years, unless a period of five years has elapsed since his release.”